Yo, ​“Haters”: Morehead’s Running Again

At a block party turned dance party where Greg Morehead announced he’s running for a third term, the Dixwell alderman cut a rug with a constituent, released a hip-hop anthem denouncing ​“haters” — and said he has helped his constituents land jobs at the new Stop & Shop.

Morehead’s announcement drew about 40 people late on Saturday afternoon to Monterey Place, during the Ward 22 alderman’s fifth annual end of the school year party for the neighborhood. The day launched a campaign that promises to be among the city’s busiest and hardest fought this summer, if past experience and the emerging line-up of challengers are any guide.

The four booming speakers that a DJ had set up at the corner of Ashmun and Webster streets let all of Dixwell know that it was time to party for Greg.

A musician himself (he drums for the band DangerZone and has appeared on national TV), Morehead played a new rap track he had just written, ​“Curtain Call.” (Click here to listen.)

The song states in part:

I created jobs …
Now they doing fine.
But do you thank me?
Nah … Y’all just hate …

Amid barbecuing provided by his dad Dennis (“He’s the best candidate for the job”) and face painting and a festive ​“bounce house” for the little ones, Morehead said his top issues will always be crime, safety, education, and keeping residents informed through his regular newsletter.

He estimated that since his assuming office he’s gotten more than 40 people jobs. These include positions at the C‑Town supermarket when it was in Dixwell Plaza and more recently at the new Stop & Shop.

“We [aldermen] can’t make jobs, but we can make them accessible for residents,” Morehead said.

In formal remarks, Morehead added that many times he has taken ​“residents down to various places of employment and put my name on the line just so that residents can have a job, and for youth that means not being on the street.”

Morehead may have as many as three other opponents in a Sept. 13 primary for his Ward 22 seat: labor-backed Jeanette Morrison plus two neighbors who have run against Morehead repeatedly in the past, Lisa Hopkins and Cordelia Thorpe.

Morrison has called for Yale to contribute more to the cash-strapped city; Morehead called that an unrealistic idea. Asked his position on whether the city should charge Yale another payment for the ​“privatizing” of sections of Wall and High streets, he replied: ​“That agreement should be looked at. We should have public testimony about that.”

One issue is bound to be Morehead’s attendance record, which has been among the lowest among 30 aldermen this session. He has missed 44 out of 51 committee meetings and, in 2011, one-third of full board meetings. (The issue also emerged in the 2009 primary.) Morehead said he has been tied up with church meetings and family health problems but has worked hard to stay in touch with constituents.

“I don’t miss out when it comes to my constituents. As long as I’m there for the constituents, that’s what matters,” Morehead said Saturday. He said no constituents have raised the issue of his absences from committee meetings. ​“There’s no reason for my constituents to be concerned.”

He was very much present at Saturday’s kick-off event, where he cited his record of directing residents to construction trades training programs and guiding younger people like Russell Claver-Obinna to city summer jobs. Claver-Obinna, a 19-year-old Albertus Magnus sophomore, was working as the bouncer at the ​“bounce house” Saturday afternoon. Last summer Morehead had helped him secure a job as a counselor at a city camp through the Youth at Work program.

“He lets people know he’s there,” said Claver-Obinna. He said he’s supporting Morehead also bcause of the designation of parts of Monterey Place as zoned parking. ​“He always gets stuff done.”

Officials and aspiring officials on hand, if not formally to endorse him, but to thank Morehead for his public service, included City Clerk Ron Smith, Newhallville Alderman Charles Blango, and mayoral hopeful Clifton Graves.

There were no questions offered by constituents after the announcement, only good-hearted partying.

Told of his remarks in a subsequent phone interview, Morrison called Morehead’s newsletter commendable. Only not enough. ​“For me you need a variety of communications.” She suggested, for example, that she would, in addition to newsletters, convene a forum at least twice a year.

She also commended Morehead on his efforts to steer residents to job opportunities. Again, she added more can be done.

“The efforts that Greg made are excellent,” Morrison said, but then cited two large groups of people she’d uncovered in her canvassing who need more directed and structured help for jobs: ex-offenders and people without high school degrees or G.E.D.s.

A social worker by training, Morrison suggested, ​“We need to say, ​‘What are people missing. And what do we put in place to give these people what they need to be employable?’”

Morehead said the biggest challenge facing aldermen this coming year will be balancing the budget during stringent economic times. He said he would have voted against the 2011 – 2012 city budget if the serious illness of his son had not prevented him from being in the chamber when the budget was voted on. Residents and many local business called him, he said, urging him to oppose the budget for, among other reasons, the proposal to have downtown parking meters operate until midnight.

Morehead also took credit for building ​“lasting relationships” with area institutions, especially Yale University, part of which Ward 22 includes.

At the beginning of his formal remarks, he called for a moment of silence and appreciation for the recently deceased Chris Alexander, the founder of New Haven Reads (and wife of Yale vice president for New Haven and State Affairs Bruce Alexander). New Haven Reads is at the corner of Ashmun and Bristol, in the ward.

He also thanked Yale-New Haven Hospital for providing the dogs, burgers, and other food for his annual neighborhood back-to-school event.